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I am asking this for a friend. He is currently separated from his wife and trying to save the money to file for divorce. They have two children ages 6 and 9 and his wife is keeping the kids from him. I am wanting to know what his rights are concerning the kids. He has left the home and she is staying there with the kids, he is paying the bills at the house. she recently filed for a civil protection order and he showed up for the hearing but she did not, and so the court dismissed it. What are his legal rights to his kids during a separation? Thank you so much for any advice.

Asked on 7/16/13, 10:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

In Ohio, the father has whatever rights any father would have and can take the kids anywhere and do anything with them so long as there is no breach of the peace or other violation of law. But the best way would be to file for the divorce and get a temporary visitation schedule set up so that there are no doubts about when visitation can happen and that there are penalties for disobeying the court's schedule.